Rogue's BlackBird - Modern Update

[Rogue_Trapper]

Welcome to the Thread!!

Let me start off by saying, this is my Revamp of the Original BlackBird (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/315299-BlackBird-New-Skin-for-DDO), with the U46 UI assets provided by the DDO Devs. I have taken the assets of the Original and have updated some assets not available back then. I have also been working on recolors for the Modern Update.

You can Download my revamp of BlackBird and any recolors HERE (https://itch.io/c/994084/blackbird-and-recolors).

BlackBird 1.0.8:
https://i.imgur.com/oj0O88P.jpg?1


Recolours are now available!!!!

BlueBird 1.0.2:
https://i.imgur.com/3lcv2Oo.jpg?1

PurpleBird 1.0.2:
https://i.imgur.com/idtp05N.jpg?1

GreenBird 1.0.0:
https://i.imgur.com/a4vN3cw.jpg?1

Orangebird 1.0.0:
https://i.imgur.com/wo4KLvD.jpg?1

PinkBird 1.0.0:
https://i.imgur.com/yU1XW5i.jpg?1

RedBird 1.0.0:
https://i.imgur.com/wGkYIbp.jpg?3

YellowBird 1.0.0:
https://i.imgur.com/OOh1c6F.jpg?1



The link provided will update when the skin does, the images of the skins in this post may not.
There are also what I call ASOs - Alternative Style Options, these are options to change up the skin within itself. Like removing the curve on the Chatbox or Transparent Hotbars.

Known Bugs/Notes:


We do not have access to all UI assets at this time and this project is very much a WIP.

Issue are occurring with Outdated Winrar Versions, make sure you have the current legitimate version or use 7-Zip.

The horizontal hotbars are meant to be transparent in the space that you place the ability/item, like the vertical bars are. DDO has an issue with this, it pastes a new hotbar assest over the current one when logging in/adding to the hotbar. This causes the hotbars to lose the transparency. Pressing Alt+Z twice refreshes the UI and makes them transparent once again..
As of 16/10/2020 WinRAR and 7-Zip are not needed, if you use the new .zip files. The .rar file still requires them.


I Hope You Enjoy!!

[Rogue_Trapper]

Here is how to install a Skin file:

https://i.imgur.com/6oFHedy.png

Note:
As of 16/10/2020 WinRAR and 7-Zip are not needed, if you use the new .zip files. The .rar file still requires them.

Axel has created a Video on how to install Custom UI Skins, check it out!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOHA8qL5FWE&t=6s




Links to unzipping Programs:
- WinRAR (https://www.rarlab.com/download.htm)
- 7-Zip (https://www.7-zip.org/)

[Bolo_Grubb]

Thank you for your work on this. I am enjoying your skins very much

[Cordovan]

Thanks for sharing this!

[cru121]

using it.
thanks.

[axel15810]

Awesome, thanks for your work. Blackbird was my favorite back in the day, nice and easy on the eyes. Will be setting this up for myself ASAP.

[Epitome]

This was always my favorite UI skin.

Hopefully yourself or others can make the developers aware of the missing assets you'd want to see added for modding.

[Rauven]

Thank you for the update. I've been using Blackbird for years and this update is greatly appreciated.

[Stoner81]

Great to see it on here Rogue, awesome work!

I can't stress enough how good this is!

Stoner81.

[Tyrande]

Welcome to the Thread!!

[...]

I Hope You Enjoy!!

Thank you Rogue, but can you make the color prismatic...? i.e. as in the colors of a prismatic spray or prismatic wall (the one you see in Shroud)

[Rogue_Trapper]

Thank you Rogue, but can you make the color prismatic...? i.e. as in the colors of a prismatic spray or prismatic wall (the one you see in Shroud)

Color options are very much a WIP. I released Blue as it was my personal side project/selection of color. Purple came from requests from many people on Discord. Currently, I am trying to finish BlackBird as a whole before recoloring any other colors. A Prismatic color would be nice, will keep it in mind.

[thomascoolone64]

Not BUYING it.

[Rogue_Trapper]

Not BUYING it.

It is free, Click

https://imgur.com/2UcKwTh.jpg

[ycheese123]

Nice to see an update on this. Thank you.

[Swimms]

Love the skin, thanks for this!!

[Assassination]

Wow, this is awesome!

[BrotherDog]

I paid but it says that I have to pay again? Why?

[BrotherDog]

I paid but it says that I have to pay again? Why?
I either want the files or my money back.

[BrotherDog]

I either want the files or my money back.

Oh. Definitely money back. I have no way to open .rar files. Either email me a .zip or refund.

[Stoner81]

I paid but it says that I have to pay again? Why?


I either want the files or my money back.


Oh. Definitely money back. I have no way to open .rar files. Either email me a .zip or refund.

You don't have to pay at all if you do not want to.

7Zip is a free program and will allow you to open the RAR file and extract it. It can downloaded from here ---> https://www.7-zip.org/

Stoner81.

[BrotherDog]

You don't have to pay at all if you do not want to.

7Zip is a free program and will allow you to open the RAR file and extract it. It can downloaded from here ---> https://www.7-zip.org/

Stoner81.

Thank you much good sir. Every other .rar extractor I was able to find before were very expensive. You helped me in a very big way. Awesome skins by the way

[Stoner81]

Thank you much good sir. Every other .rar extractor I was able to find before were very expensive. You helped me in a very big way. Awesome skins by the way

No worries happy to help.

The two big programs to use for archiving these days are WinRAR and 7Zip.

WinRAR is a paid application but can be used for free you just get a pop up window now and then but you can simply close it

7Zip is as I said is free to use.

I use 7Zip a lot since it offers better compression but I have both just in case :)

Stoner81.

[Rogue_Trapper]

I either want the files or my money back.

I see that you have fixed your issue with extracting the files. Are you still looking for a refund on your donation?

Itch.io is new to me, I am not sure if you can message me on there. You may contact me via discord or email.

Discord: NeuFang#2887

Email: NeuFang.Stream@gmail.com

[Drelkag]

I just found about skins in DDO and BlackBird - appreciate all the work put into this nice project.

[axel15810]

I made a video tutorial to help people out with installing these custom skins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOHA8qL5FWE

[Rogue_Trapper]

I made a video tutorial to help people out with installing these custom skins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOHA8qL5FWE

Thank You Axel!!

I added the video to the 2nd post on this thread.

[BrotherDog]

I see that you have fixed your issue with extracting the files. Are you still looking for a refund on your donation?

Itch.io is new to me, I am not sure if you can message me on there. You may contact me via discord or email.

Discord: NeuFang#2887

Email: NeuFang.Stream@gmail.com

No way, very happy with your help and the UI skins. You deserve compensation.

My wording earlier thing about that was partly in jest, but that never translates well at all in type.

[Ualac]

As the creator of the original BlackBird skin I have to say ... this is excellent!
Great to see someone take up the torch to bring this into line with some (finally!) updated UI files.

Rogue, would it be too much to ask if you could credit me somewhere in the files? As you can imagine the original skin took many many hours to get into it's workable state. Even just acknowledging what your skin is derived from in a header comment in the skindefinition.xml file, along with a link to the original Blackbird forum thread would be more than enough.

cheers
Ualac

[Rogue_Trapper]

As the creator of the original BlackBird skin I have to say ... this is excellent!
Great to see someone take up the torch to bring this into line with some (finally!) updated UI files.

Rogue, would it be too much to ask if you could credit me somewhere in the files? As you can imagine the original skin took many many hours to get into it's workable state. Even just acknowledging what your skin is derived from in a header comment in the skindefinition.xml file, along with a link to the original Blackbird forum thread would be more than enough.

cheers
Ualac


Glad to see you like my spin on the Much Loved Original!!!

I've tried to give credit on the Sites I have posted the skins on, I can very much add a credit into the files themselves.



Edit:

https://bit.ly/3fddPpi

[Ualac]

Glad to see you like my spin on the Much Loved Original!!!

I do like it, and can appreciate how much effort you likely have put in yourself to get this skin up-to-date.

I really had hoped way back when that we'd see a proper UI layout system implemented in DDO, similar to what LOTRO has where panels can be modified and (for my preference) simplified. Also scaling of the UI would have been a major improvement for me as this is tricky to play on 1440p resolutions. As it is there's only so much that can be done with modifications to the images and I know exactly what it's like moving art 1 pixel here and there and loading up to see if that corrected a problem.

So I toast your fine work *toast* and here's to many new players finding out about Blackbird through your effort

(Appreciate that comment in the header, thanks for that.)

[PaddyMaxson]

Nice, any chance of a pink one that's a bit less Magenta? Or a rough tutorial on what to edit?

[Rogue_Trapper]

Nice, any chance of a pink one that's a bit less Magenta? Or a rough tutorial on what to edit?

It is complicated to make things in a lighter colour, it makes some of the text hard to see. Mainly the text in the character sheet, the white text colour gets washed with a brighter background.
I will post an image after work, to show you an example.

Edit:

See it can be hard on the eyes, to have bright backgrounds. If you really want it like this, I can do it for ya.

https://bit.ly/2DBCsQ2

[teejax]

I just wanted to say this is an awesome skin that made me happy.

[Rogue_Trapper]

Changed the Leather BackGround that appears in most windows, like the inventory and Character Sheet. This should give a smoother appearance to the skins.

Changed colours of the hotbars, to match that of the new Background changes.

Fixed the LGS and Sentient windows.

Added new placeholder icon for worn items placed on hotbars

Added .Zip files to allow downloads without needing winrar or 7-Zip.

Added the Alchemist UI Assets to BlueBird

Gave homage to the original creator, Ualac, in the SkinDefinition.xml files. Thank You for the hard work many years ago on the Original BlackBird, I would not have done this if not for you.


Let me know of any bugs and ideas to further enhance the Skin!

[Mindos]

Changed the Leather BackGround that appears in most windows, like the inventory and Character Sheet. This should give a smoother appearance to the skins.
Changed colours of the hotbars, to match that of the new Background changes.
Fixed the LGS and Sentient windows.
Added new placeholder icon for worn items placed on hotbars
Added .Zip files to allow downloads without needing winrar or 7-Zip.
Added the Alchemist UI Assets to BlueBird
Gave homage to the original creator, Ualac, in the SkinDefinition.xml files. Thank You for the hard work many years ago on the Original BlackBird, I would not have done this if not for you.


Let me know of any bugs and ideas to further enhance the Skin!

Can we get a before and after screen shot of the Leather Background changes and the hotbars? I think I understand what you did, but I'm just not "seeing" it in my head.

[Rogue_Trapper]

Can we get a before and after screen shot of the Leather Background changes and the hotbars? I think I understand what you did, but I'm just not "seeing" it in my head.

I do plan on changing the images on the main post, until then here. The hotbars for the recolours just match the colour of the new BG image.

BlackBird 1.0.8:
https://i.imgur.com/oj0O88P.jpg?1

BlackBird 1.0.9:
https://i.imgur.com/Td01pN9h.jpg

[Stoner81]

Amazing work as always buddy! Thanks for the update!

Stoner81.

[Jennan]

The small version of the map isn't matching the style, is there any chance you can get that to work, too?

[benneburg]

The small version of the map isn't matching the style, is there any chance you can get that to work, too?

It is not possible at the moment, we are still missing a few pieces of the UI. Hope we get them all eventually.


benne^

[Jennan]

Another couple things I noticed are that when you have multiple hotbars, the highest number hotbar's empty slots have a transparent grey background while the other hotbars have a solid grey where there would be an item or ability if you put one in; this means the empty slots on the highest number hotbar effectly change color as you run around and the color of whatever is behind the hotbar changes. Also, when you put weapon sets onto a hotbar (not the highest number hotbar) and that weapon set is not what you currently have equipped, there's an opening around the slot for the weapon set where you can see the world behind the hotbar.

[Rogue_Trapper]

Another couple things I noticed are that when you have multiple hotbars, the highest number hotbar's empty slots have a transparent grey background while the other hotbars have a solid grey where there would be an item or ability if you put one in; this means the empty slots on the highest number hotbar effectly change color as you run around and the color of whatever is behind the hotbar changes.

This is why it is mentioned about the pressing Alt+Z x2. The bars are meant to be transparent where you place items/abilities, like the default skin is. When applying skins and adding things to your hotbars, DDO seems to paste a new layer of the bar over the old one. This is why when you move abilities around, even on the default skin, it has a darkened shadow of the item/ability you moved. This is done more so on UI skins than the defualt skin. On UI Skins, it also only effects the horizontal bars and not the vertical ones. There are a few UI elements that have this overlapping/Transparency issue, like the Menu icon on the lower left when you go from default to BlackBird or the worn item icon around you gear on transparent parts of the bar (Mainly with the Minimalist ASO for the hotbar). I am trying to fixes as much as I can from my side, largely it is on SSGs side and how the client handles UI assets.


Also, when you put weapon sets onto a hotbar (not the highest number hotbar) and that weapon set is not what you currently have equipped, there's an opening around the slot for the weapon set where you can see the world behind the hotbar.

Thank You for telling me this. I have noticed it and I am trying to find out the cause.
(Edit: Just Fixed this problem, will come with next update.)

[teejax]

I just wanted to say thank you for this skin, which I use and love.

[New-RS-God]

Very amazing work, I used the old skin for a while even if it was broken!

[tpbtoc]

Very nice!

[Phienas]

Thank you for the work on this excellent UI.

Again awesome job.

[Arthuvin]

I use it. It is an excelent skin. Good Job!

[DenissIron]

Thanks for this Skin.
What is ArtAssetId for Radar element? Or map window? Cant find it.

[Rogue_Trapper]

Thanks for this Skin.
What is ArtAssetId for Radar element? Or map window? Cant find it.

We don't have this info sadly. Hoping they can get to it us one day.

[Ronkaura]

you wouldnt happen to have the file to change the colors and such of the Daily Dice interface and the mini-map right? kinda off to have everything colored except for literally those 2 things sticking out like a sore thumb

[Rogue_Trapper]

you wouldnt happen to have the file to change the colors and such of the Daily Dice interface and the mini-map right? kinda off to have everything colored except for literally those 2 things sticking out like a sore thumb

I believe I have the ability to change the Daily Dice but I know for a fact we don't have the assets for the Mini-map. I will take a look into the Daily Dice.